The Christmas Shoes
by Living in a fantasy
Summary: When Mello had gone shopping that Christmas Eve for L's gift, he hadn't expected that a mere eight dollars would make such a difference in his life.


AN: Forgive my use of American money, but I stuck with what I knew.

/…/…/…/

Christmas Eve had arrived once again and here I was missing the celebrations because I was standing in line, trying to buy L his Christmas present. I'd had to wait so long because we didn't start to get pocket money from the orphanage until we were ten, forcing me to complete as many extra chores as I could to earn a bit of money. It's wasn't much, but it was enough to get L a nice gift.

Now I just wanted to pay for the gift and get back to Wammy house. Dinner was starting in an hour, and the walk back would take me almost thirty minutes. Really I wasn't even supposed to be out here by myself, but Roger had said we weren't allowed to go into town today so I'd had to sneak out.

I growled impatiently. The line was long and full of last minute shoppers like me, and the cashier was taking ages. She was a teenager, chomping on gum and texting. She glanced up at the person she was checking out and continued texting with one hand, scanning his items with the other. How important could this conversation be that she couldn't wait until her shift was over?

I looked around the store, shifting from foot to foot impatiently. The boy in front of me seemed impatient too. He was around my age, clothes hanging loosely off his skinny frame. They were old and torn and didn't look particularly warm. He kept looking at the clock above the register then back at the box he was holding, a pair of shoes.

Finally, after nearly fifteen minutes of waiting the boy in front of me was the last person I had to wait for before it was my turn. He put the box of shoes on the counter and the girl took off the lid. They were women's shoes, so they must be a gift.

"You sure you can afford these, kid?" the cashier asked.

He nodded vehemently. "Yes. Could you please hurry?" The cashier shrugged, ringing up the shoes.

"These for your mom or something?"

He nodded. "I'm buying them for my mom…you see she's been sick for a while but she loves Christmas and I wanted to get her something nice…in case…" he trailed off, looking away. I watched him as he dug through his pockets, pulling out handfuls of crumpled dollar bills and coins. I groaned to myself, knowing it would take ages for them to count it all.

It did take ages. The boy only had a few bills and most of the coins were dimes or less. People behind me were grumbling in annoyance but I just watched, realizing he wasn't going to have enough.

I was right, he was eight dollars short. "There's not enough here," she told him.

The boy searched his pockets frantically. "That can't be right. I counted it perfectly! I know I had-" he froze when he found a hole in the pocket of his thin coat. "It was here! I had three dollar bills, and three dollars in quarters and the rest in dimes! It…it fell out," he finished numbly. "W-what do I do? I've been saving for so long…because I knew these shoes would make her smile." His voice was growing choked, but there was nothing he could do. He looked at the shoes a moment before he gathered his money and turned away.

His eyes were bright emerald green, filled with unleashed tears. He looked so close to breaking down. I could feel sympathy for him; I had lost my parents too after all. And the way he talked about her made her seem closer to death every second…

I couldn't help but recall my own mother. It was only three years ago that I had been spending Christmas with her. Her hair, blond like mine, fell just below her shoulders. Her smile was so kind, so comforting, as we decorated the tree together and baked cookies during the Christmas season.

But then her features were contorted with pain and agony, and in an instant she was gone, and just like that I was alone.

"Wait!" I said without thinking, reaching out to grab his shoulder. He stopped and looked at me, eyes wide. I dug through my pockets, pulling out the crisp folded bills I had collected from my extra chores. I counted out eight dollars and put it on the counter.

He looked at me in shock. "But…why? You don't even know me," he said, sounding confused.

I shook my head. "Don't worry about it. Just buy your shoes and get home." He nodded, pulling out his money and setting it on the counter again. The cashier rung him up and put the shoes in a bag, handing them to him.

He turned to face me then, a huge smile on his face. "Thank you so much, you have no idea what this means to me." He left the line then, running out the door. No longer having enough money to afford L's gift, I put it back and walked outside, beginning my trek back to the orphanage. I could see the boy near the outskirts of town as I hurried along. He moved quickly into a rundown apartment building and vanished from my sight. I continued walking, both ashamed at not having a gift for L and happy for helping that kid out.

Christmas Eve dinner was delicious, as it always was. I kept glancing at L's table with trepidation; he was sitting at the head table with the teachers, munching on some sugar cookies. Watari kept nudging the plate of real food he's collected towards the boy, but L was ignoring it. It wasn't until Watari whispered something in his ear that he finally put down the sweets and began to reluctantly nibble on the feast.

The cafeteria was filled with excited chatter. Everyone usually got in the spirit at Christmas time. Soon the younger students were sent to their rooms to get ready for bed. I sighed as I trudged along to my room. In a year I'd be ten, and I'd be allowed to go sit with the older children and L and ask him questions.

I curled up in bed after studying for a while (we only got a week off for the holidays before classes resumed, and I had to be prepared. I wouldn't let a holiday stop me from beating Near!) and closed my eyes, both excited for tomorrow and dreading it. Hopefully that kid's mom was happy at least.

/…/…/…/

It was Christmas morning. Despite everyone being off school, most of the children woke up at the same time as a normal school day and rushed downstairs to the Christmas tree. There was a big pile of presents underneath, and once everyone had settled down, gifts were distributed.

Everyone got something from L and Watari, and everyone got a second gift from Roger. They must be loaded, because the gifts were always really good. After everyone had gotten their main gifts they rushed around giving gifts to each other. I'd never participated in this gift exchange; I didn't have anyone I liked enough to spend money on. There was a line in front of L, who was politely thanking every child who handed him a present. I sighed and stood, standing in line empty handed. When I reached the front, L's smile seemed to flicker a little brighter. Maybe it was my imagination, but I liked to think he liked me. "Greetings, Mello," he said.

"Hello." I shifted uncomfortably and sighed loudly. "Look, I was going to buy you something, but there was this stupid kid in line in front of me who couldn't afford his mom's Christmas gift. It sounded like she was sick or something so I gave him the money, that's why I don't have your present."

I couldn't have imagined the subtle widening of his smile at that. "That was very kind of you."

"Yeah, I guess," I muttered.

L picked up his teacup on the table beside him and sipped from it. "While I appreciate everyone's gifts, and the thought that went into them, you giving a boy money for his ill mother's gift sounds like a lovely present to me. Thank you, Mello."

"Um, you're welcome?"

He smiled and gently nudged me along, handing me a sugar cookie as I went. "Happy Christmas."

"Happy Christmas, L," I said. I sat in front of my two gifts and ate the cookie, smiling. L's approval was the best gift of all.

Nearly a week later I was back in town with a group of students. We were allowed to go in town to exchange gifts with a couple teachers, in case we received something broken or in the wrong size. I didn't want to exchange anything; I just said I did because I wanted to get away from Wammy House for a while. It was rare that the younger students were allowed into town after all.

As everyone scattered in opposite directions (and my so called 'buddy' ran off into some shady looking store) I wandered slowly through the town. I gazed longingly into the candy store, kicking at the snow as I walked. As I walked, I realized I'd moved near the store I'd met that boy in without thinking about it. I was about to turn around and head more towards the center of town when I saw a kid sitting outside in the snow. His coat was ratty and old, and that red hair was so bright I'd recognize it anywhere. It was the kid from the store.

I hesitated before finally walking towards him. The boy didn't look up, even when I was standing right in front of him. "Hey," I said awkwardly, wondering what had compelled me to talk to the boy. I had never expected to see him again. "Did your mom like the shoes?"

A small, bitter smile played across his face. "Yeah, she liked them," he said softly.

Well that couldn't be a good sign. "Um…that's good." He sniffed loudly and I winced. Oh boy, this could not be good at all. "How is she?" I asked slowly.

He shook his head. "She died a couple nights ago."

"I'm sorry," I said, not knowing what else to say. I knew from experience that nothing would make it hurt any less. "My mom died too, not long ago."

"Sorry," he parroted at me.

I shrugged awkwardly. "Yeah." We were silent for a while and finally I shifted backwards. "Look, my group is going back soon, so I have to go. You should probably go inside, it's cold out."

"What's the point?" he whispered. "There's no one there, the house is so empty without her."

I paused, focusing on him again. "The house is empty?" I asked slowly. "What about your dad?" He said nothing, staring at the ground, and I slowly started to understand. "Have you called anyone?" I asked.

"No one to call," he mumbled, wrapping his arms around himself, shivering slightly from the cold breeze.

I watched him, undecided for several moments, but in the end it wasn't a difficult choice. I knew where he was coming from, I'd been there. The foster system was horrible. And maybe I'd get in trouble for dragging a random orphan back with me, but at that moment I didn't really care. It was the holiday season, he shouldn't have to sit alone with his mother's corpse (I shuddered at the thought of spending multiple nights alone with a body) until someone investigated. "Come on."

He finally looked back up at me. "What?" he asked.

I shrugged uncomfortably. "I live at an orphanage and it's…it's a really good one. Trust me. Just, come with me, okay?"

"I don't know…" he trailed off uncertainly.

I shoved my hands in my pockets. "Do you really want to be dragged into foster care by the police in a week or two? This place is a lot better than that, trust me."

"They won't just take me in."

"Don't worry about it."

It took some convincing, but eventually I got him to go with me. Roger was furious with me, and I was stuck in my room for the next week except for classes, but the boy (Matt, I found out later) passed the tests and was admitted.

He was friendly, and people liked him, but he stuck by my side, and slowly, we became friends.

Next year for Christmas, I only had enough money for one gift.

I bought one for Matt.

I felt like L was proud of me for doing that, instead of getting him something. Besides, the look on Matt's face was worth it. I felt unbelievably fortunate and blessed that I'd decided to give him my money the year before for those shoes. If I hadn't, I never would have found my best friend.

And I'd never realized how much I had missed out on during the holidays. The orphanage held a lot of events during the month of December, for multiple holidays. There were several days that students could bake cookies, Christmas movie nights, and almost everyone pitched in to decorate Wammy House. I'd never partook in any of these rituals; it had felt wrong without my mother, and everyone did those things with their friends. I didn't have any good friends at Wammy…I mean I had some people I got along with, and played football with and stuff, but studying had always been more important to me.

But Matt had changed that. He'd made Christmas magical again, and for that, I would always be grateful.

And to think, it was eight dollars that had made all the difference.

/…/…/…/

AN: Merry Christmas everyone! I got it out on time! Christmas is just so busy, but I had a little time tonight before dinner to finish this. Now, around midnight, I am posting for whenever you get done doing your Christmas activities. Anyway, hope you enjoyed my annual Christmas story, and I hope you all have a wonderful holiday. Thanks for reading!


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